On this Sunday afternoon
before Christmas, I'd like to continue with my series on the animal characters
in my stories and the real life animal companions who inspired them. A recent
post by my niece on Facebook states, "No matter how old I am, I'm always
going to want a pony for Christmas." I can attest to the truth of this.
However, my ponies these days are the ones in my stories.

In my latest
release, "Where the Lion Dwells" my heroine rescues an abused Arabian
stallion which she names "Tuscan." Is there a real life Arabian named
"Tuscan?" Oh yes, I am blessed to have been his owner back in the
day. He wasn't a stallion nor had he ever been abused, but his personality was
much the same as the character in the book and writing about him brought back
many happy memories of the big lug.

Arabians are a
very special breed. They are beautiful to behold, extremely gentle with
children, and smarter than the average human being. I never figured out whether
my two thought they were people in horse's clothes or I was a very funny
looking horse. In any case, both horses went on to a new owner about twenty
years ago due to circumstances beyond my control, but I cherish the memories I
have of them and both are characters in my stories. The picture shows Tuscan on
the right, Rikin on the left, and both in flight as I shook a bottle of rocks
to play tag with them and make them run. You can read about Tuscan in my
current release, and his stable buddy, Rikin, is a character in my new story
"Triumph without Glory," which is currently in production.

Yep, I'd like a
pony for Christmas. I just don't know what I would do with one.